House speaker backs role for Congress in debt limit increases

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan said on Thursday he opposes any effort to do away with the role of Congress in approving increases to the federal debt limit.

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) speaks during a press briefing on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., September 7, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

“I think there’s a legitimate role for power of the purse and Article 1 powers,” Ryan said, referencing a section of the U.S. Constitution that gives Congress its powers.

President Donald Trump asked congressional leaders at a White House meeting on Wednesday whether the need for periodic legislative raises to the debt ceiling, which is the federal government’s borrowing limit, should be eliminated.